The Leaves are Turning

Classes are well underway for everyone here at JWU In Providence.  I haven't had that much homework so far but I'm certain that will pick up pace in the near future.
The one class that I do have numerous projects in already is Intro to Nutrition.  The course seems pretty rigoruos but I really enjoy listening to lectures that Chef Seyfarth gives.  They may be lengthy but the detail that he went into about the pros and cons of teens using whey protein to get big muscles was incredible.  
Did you know that the body can only process about 35 grams of protein a day?  And most of those drinks have you ingesting double and sometimes triple that amount!  That means that the $70 you spent on that powder to get you ripped, most of it is literally going down the toilet.
I think I'm going to like this class.

On the Way

As I’m sitting in the car on the near ten-hour drive from Greensburg, PA to Warwick, RI, I can’t help but notice how green everything is out here.  Back in St. Joe, you would cut the bottom of your feet just by walking in your yard, that’s how dry the grass was this summer.  In the preparation for my graduation party at the end of June, we called Mosquito Squad to spray our lawn.  They sprayed the trees; apparently even mosquitoes won’t live in our dead yard.  Now I see that all the rain went east. 

Everything’s so different out here.  I can’t wait to get all my belongings unpacked, but a part of me wants to turn around and run back home, back to everything I’ve known for the past 18 years.  Change, whether good or bad, is always hard.  The transition period is by far the worst as it comes with a sense of uncertainty.  Personally, I like to know what to expect and I have no idea what to expect this fall.  Well besides a lot of homework.  I mean it is college, right?

Eventually, I will find my niche in this new world, but I will never forget my roots.  St. Joe isn’t just my hometown, it’s a part of who I am and I have a lot of people to thank for helping me achieve my childhood dreams.  Which brings me to my biggest fear: Letting everyone down.  What if I fail?  I doubt I fail but college is a lot harder than high school so who knows?  I just want to be somebody, I want to make something of myself and but St. Joe on the map.  I’ll just take it one day at a time. 

And eat lots of pastries along the way

Anticipation

Sometimes life just keeps going and going and you don't get a chance to stop and smell the roses, or update your blog postings.  Not that I'm making excuses.... And don't worry, I'm fine, I just had to work a lot this summer because college just keeps getting more and more expensive, but thats another story.

Today I am in Greensburg, PA visiting my grandparents.  My parents and I departed from St. Joseph, MI yesterday around 4:30 pm and drove the seven hours to Pennsylvania.  I feel like I'm in the transition period between high school and college, being shuffled around until I'm finally dumped at my dorm room with a couple hundred dollars to my name, expected to make something of myself.  But at least I have some Chips Ahoy cookies to keep me sane.

I really don't normally indulge in pre-made baked goods, being the aspiring chef that I am, however there are certain things that just aren't the same homemade.  Crazy, I know, but the Chips Ahoy mini cookies are incredible, especially on long car rides.  And they are a little piece of home.

All of my belongings are currently sitting in the back half of our families Nissan Quest, weighing down the tires a little bit.  I thought that maybe I might have brought too much stuff, but the way I see it is that it's way better to have too much stuff than not enough.  Plus, I bought a lot of storage containers so I can organize and put away everything.  I just hope our room is as big and I'm anticipating.

Macaroons in the Morning

“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.” - Ovid 

Or it can flourish in a oven, baked to perfection.

This recipe is one that has been a long time in the making.  Kinda.  I'll start from the beginning.

A long long time ago, back in a time where macaroons were not yet discovered by my hands and the French had nothing on me, my mom made a purchase that changed all of this.  She bought a can of Almond Paste.  
To my mom, this was the best thing since sliced bread (which isn't that great if you ask me).  She tore off the paper label to see the '2 Recipes Inside This Label' and prodded me to create one of them.  I brought the can into class and was met with an idea from Mrs. Berry about creating something else that day, so we put it off.  
And you know how that goes.  
I just found it today because I had run out of new ideas.  So I returned to the beloved macaroons.  Let me just say this publicly, THANK YOU MRS. K!  This will now be the cookie I run to when unexpected guests come knocking, or I forget that there are only 24 hours in a day.  


Mrs. K's Famous Macaroons
Makes about 18-20 cookies

1 can of Solo Almond Paste
1 egg white (extra large)
1/2 cup sugar
Optional: 10 Maraschino Cherries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a flat cookie sheet with parchment paper.  

Break almond paste into small pieces and place into your mixer with a paddle attachment.  Add sugar and mix well.  Note: There will still be small pieces and don't try to mix them out because you risk over-mixing.  They will dissipate when the egg white is added in.

Roll the dough into balls slightly larger than a quarter.

Bake at 325 degrees until edges are golden brown.

Break apart while their still warm, and 

Enjoy!